LbN: Last chapter! I know you guys are gonna be pissed that I'm ending it here, but I only planned it to the end of seventh year...Hope you like it!

Hand in Hand

Draco stowed his wand in the inside of jeans, making sure his shirt covered it. This had become a habit ever since he'd received it at eleven; especially at times like these. His wand was his security blanket, and even though he couldn't really defend himself against Death Eaters, it made him feel better that he could try. It even made being summoned by his father slightly more bearable. Slightly.

With a sigh, he left his bedroom and walked through the halls of Malfoy Manor, down to his father's study. Entering the small room, his heart stopped for a second. It wasn't just Lucius; Bellatrix was there as well.

Don't worry; don't look panicked, he told himself. You're seventeen; they just want you to take the Mark. Another lecture on pureblood ways, nothing to worry about. Nothing to worry about.

"Do you know why I've summoned you, Draco?" Lucius asked.

"No Father," Draco said in what he hoped was a politely curious voice.

"Really?" Bellatrix asked quietly.

A million and two alarm bells went off in Draco's head. He was in serious trouble if Bellatrix was addressing him without Lucius' permission. Taking a deep breath, he decided to continue his lie. If he was going to go down, he was going do so in style.

"No Aunt Bellatrix," he said.

The next thing he recognized was considerable pain, and the fact that he was on the floor. He had, of course, been put under the Cruciatus curse before; but only by his father, who usually went easy on him for the sake of his mother. This was different, this was Bellatrix. Pure, unrelenting evil was coursing through his veins. Then it stopped. He took a bunch of deep breaths and opened his eyes. His vision swam, but he could just make out his father walking over to him. After receiving a sharp kick in the gut, Draco was pulled to his feet and shoved against the wall. In his weakened state, he couldn't block out his father.

"Legilimens!"

Every kiss, every hug, every random memory Draco had with Ginny came rushing to the front of his mind. He gracefully switched his facial expression from "innocent" to "defiant", and the change was not lost on either of the adults in the room.

"You don't deny it?" Lucius asked.

"No. How did you find out?"

"A good pureblood son told us," Bellatrix said.

"Nott," Lucius clarified.

"Should've known…" Draco mumbled.

Lucius looked at him once more, before hitting him across the face. Gone, Draco realized, were the days of a small, yet stinging, slap. It was a full blown punch that ushered in another round of Bellatrix's signature curse. Draco barely had time to take a breath when she lifted it before his father kicked him again in the stomach. It went on for what had to be hours. At last, both adults seemed to be tired of torturing him. Through puffy eyes, he glanced up and saw that the sun was setting. He coughed and raised a weak hand to the cuts on his face. With mounting terror, he saw his father raise his wand. His wand…

"Avada Kedavra."

HiH

Happy bloody Easter, Ginny thought. This was, without a doubt, the worst holiday she'd ever experienced; and that included the Christmas right after Ron had gone to Hogwarts.

"Sis?" Fred asked, knocking on the door and peeking his head in. "There you are! We've been looking for you."

He and George walked into her room and sat down, legs crossed, on the end of her bed.

"No," George shook his head. "We weren't going to lecture you. We just wanted to know how long you two've been seeing each other."

"Since last year."

Both twins nodded at her. After a moment of silence, Fred smiled.

"If you trust him, we'll give him a chance to prove he deserves you," he said. "Come on, it's time for dinner."

With a happy smile, Ginny thanked God for the twins and followed them down to the kitchen. The rest of the family, she found as she sat at the table, were not as ready to accept the couple. Ron was glaring at her, Bill looked concerned, and the rest of the family, including Harry, were just looking down at their plates. Unable to stand it, Ginny broke the silence.

"Look, I know that you guys don't like him—" she started.

"Don't like him?" Ron cut her off. "He's a Death Eater!"

"He is not," Ginny rolled her eyes. "He's just related to one."

"Is there a difference?" Bill asked. "You just trusted him on his word? According to Harry and Ron, he's a piece of work; and looking at who he's related to, I can see it."

"According to Harry and Ron? According to the two guys who blew him off when he first met them? According to the two guys he's had a rivalry against since he was eleven? They've spent so much mature quality time with him, they must be right…" Ginny rolled her eyes.

"This isn't a joke, Ginny!" Arthur said sternly. "How do you know—"

Just then there was a loud crack! outside. Every turned and looked out of the window. With a gasp, Ginny bolted for the door. She ran out the door before anyone could stop her and through the garden, family at her heals.

Molly, who had been standing in the doorway, darted inside and came back out running. Stopping next to Ginny, she opened the bottle of dittany and emptied it on Draco's leg. The wound closed almost completely.

"What happened to him?" Ron asked.

"Dunno," Ginny said. "Come on, we need to get him inside."

Bill and Arthur grabbed the blonde boy and took him into the house. As they were setting him on the couch, Draco opened (rather, tried to open) one eye. He coughed and closed it again. Ginny looked him over, pulling his shirt up to expose the bruises on his stomach. Barely restraining the urge to burst into tears, she took the cloth her mom was holding and started to put ointment on the ugly purple patches. Eyes still closed, Draco mumbled something.

"What babe?" Ginny whispered.

"They found out," Draco coughed. "Lucius and Bellatrix. Can we get a message to Dumbledore?"

"Don't worry, we'll tell him," Arthur said gently. "I'll do it now."

"Mum will you get me some more of this?" Ginny asked, holding up the empty bottle of ointment.

"Sure," Molly nodded, taking the bottle from her.

Once they were gone, Ginny looked back at Draco, finally letting a few tears leak out.